Brand New Carp Fisherman

[Lex]

Well as the topic states I'm brand new to this species, there's only one problem I have with it so far. What the heck did I wait so long for? I am loving these fish, it's pretty easy to see why they're so sought after in the UK. I think I was pretty much addicted after the first fish. I've been fishing out of Wellandport on the Welland River, I chum the area with frozen corn and then I use the honey flavoured corn for carp on a hair rig and have had pretty good success. Here's the funny thing, I brought my daughter out tonight (who is 10) and she put me to shame. I set her up with a pretty basic set up egg style slip sinker and a hook loaded with corn (no hair rig). She caught three fish, first one she broke off, my fault I had the drag too tight, second one she landed after a great fight maybe 8-10lbs and the third one she landed, a little smaller then the first but still a great fight. The only one I caught came off at the net. I'm really happy for her though,what a great time she had.

Here I've been doing all this research and checking out different strategies to catch carp, not to mention i'm using the hair rigs and she's nailing them on a simple hook set up. Figures, just wondering if any of the veteran carp fisherman have any input on the hair rig vs good old fashioned hook and corn method. Also seems with the hair rig they have a tendency to carry the bait then spit it out whereas she was getting hard strikes pretty much every time. Just curious what the feedback might be. Either way I'm hooked (pardon the pun) these fish are fantastic, can't wait to get out there again. Please any feedback would be really appreciated.

[hammercarp]

First of all welcome to the madness and congratulations to your little girl on her first carp. Well done dad.

The hair rig is not the be all to end all when it comes to catching carp. It is very effective but is just one of the ways to hook a carp. Float fishing can be deadly and most that do it just put the bait on the hook. I don't use a hair rig and I am happy with the results I get.

I guess it really is about fishing and having fun. Use the rig and method you have confidence in.

[Lex]

hammercarp,

Thank you very much for the feedback, as I said earlier this segment of the sport is all new to me and I can't tell how much I'm enjoying it. I've been wondering about float fishing and how I would do it for carp. By any chance can you direct me or provide me with the info I would need to try this method? I do have a centerpin reel that I've been using for carp though not sure if that is necessary. On a separate note catching carp on a centerpin is really fun, with the fight they put up it's a pretty awesome way to go.

Any help you could provide with would be greatly appreciated.

[ChefMick]

Hey Lex here is a bit of an oddball technique I use for carp.

20lb braid main line, to a lenght of high vis raven,(lenth will depend on how deep your fishing) then to flouro leader.

pretty simple set up really, line to hook and bait with a bit of split shot to keep it down.

only difficult thing to do is gauge where you need to have the raven line, because your using your raven as your strike indecator.

cast out, make sure your raven is both above and below the water line, leave the line slack and your bail closed, when I see the line start moving I usually wait a bit then set the hook.

I know it sounds rediculous but it works for me when fishing fairly shallow say 5-20'

[Lex]

Thanks Mick,

Appreciate the advise and tip and don't worry about oddball techniques some of those are probably what turn into mainstream techniques. I'm just interested to hear what people are doing since I'm so new at this. Thanks again.

[hammercarp]

hammercarp,

Thank you very much for the feedback, as I said earlier this segment of the sport is all new to me and I can't tell how much I'm enjoying it. I've been wondering about float fishing and how I would do it for carp. By any chance can you direct me or provide me with the info I would need to try this method? I do have a centerpin reel that I've been using for carp though not sure if that is necessary. On a separate note catching carp on a centerpin is really fun, with the fight they put up it's a pretty awesome way to go.

Any help you could provide with would be greatly appreciated.

Here is a selection of floats you can use.

The two on the left are not the best for carp but the rest are good.

Here is a typical set up.

Most carp floats are marked with how much weight it will take to fish them properly.

A lot of the time when a carp takes the bait, the float will rise up because the carp picks up the bait and pulls the weight up off the bottom. This is called a " lift bite" Watch for it as well as the float going directly under.

I am not an expert with the float but have landed a few on it. I hope this helps.